SEPTEMBER 2011 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton edition of The Union News

CWA Union targeting Congressman Barletta regarding FAA

BY PAUL TUCKER
THEUNIONNEWSSWB@AOL.COM

REGION, August 30th- The Communications Workers of America (CWA) International Union in Washington DC has announced their targeted battleground U.S. House of Representatives Districts for their role in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) shutdown. The CWA is targeting legislators, which includes two dozen Republicans, for what the Union called, “their willingness to shut down the FAA over a union-busting provision inserted into the House version of the multi-year FAA Reauthorization bill”.

According to Michael Earls, spokesperson for the CWA, there are fewer than 30 days until the FAA faces another potential shutdown due to the union-busting ideology of Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee John Mica (Republican-Florida) and many of his Republican House colleagues. The CWA campaign includes spending over a half a million dollars on efforts to educate voters about the causes and consequences of the FAA shutdown. The campaign includes direct mail, which will target over 600,000 voters in key battleground House districts including in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Republican House of Representative Lou Barletta (11th Legislative District) is included on the targeted list.

The direct mailing will highlight that “Americans are losing jobs because Congress is playing politics,” Mr. Earls stated.

The mailing explains that “the FAA got shut down because Chairman John Mica and some Republicans would rather play politics with real people’s lives and the FAA Reauthorization Bill. At the request of their big corporate airline donors, like Delta, Republicans snuck unrelated union provisions into the critical legislation. Then Congress took off on vacation and shut down the FAA,” Mr. Earls added.

According to the CWA, Mr. Mica was the lead driver behind the recent FAA shutdown that put nearly 100,000 people out of work and cost the United States government $400 million. The CWA stated instead of forging a bi-partisan solution that would deliver hundreds of thousands of jobs and aviation infrastructure upgrades through the long-term FAA bill, Representative Mica and many other House Republicans, including Mr. Barletta, continue to insist that the legislation include an unrelated union-busting provision requested by Delta. The provision would change the rules for union elections overseen by the National Mediation Board (NMB) and seeks to count ballots not actually cast.